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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 88, 13 April 1880, Page 2

We hear from the Wairau Valley diggings tbat at a washing of four days for a party of three, the yield was sozs. All those working in the creek are getting gold, their average being about 10a to 12s a day. This is certainly not an amount likely to attract many. Two parties are working in Timm's Valley, and are getting good prospects.— Marlborough Express. The Marlborough Express says :— A novel mode of killing a rabbit came under our , notice the other day, when shooting in Seven-

teen Gully. The son of one of our wellknown settlers, whose good nature is almost proverbial in the district, caught sight of a rabbit in! a bunch of tussock, and on the impulse of the moment threw an open pocket knife at it. The sby was a lucky one, as the blade entered the animal's eye, and killed it outright.-- A party of three guns, who spent Wednesday afternoon rabbiting on the flat near Mr Barclay's Accommodation House, report having killed no less than 247 of the pests during the day. The Lyttelton Times says : — The present accommodation in the Ashburton Court House has proved itself to be so convenient to those attending, that one bf them a plaintiff, in a case the other day, went sound asleep, and when his case was called, his counsel, owing to his client nofc having answered his name, asked for an adjournment on the ground of ill health, little knowing that his client was present in the Court. Unfortunately the eye of the law espied the " client " iv a reclining attitude fast asleep on one of the forms placed for the convenience of the public. His Worship ordered him into custody, and the " client " in an almost unconscious state was taken to the lock-up, little aware that his case had been adjudicated upon, A correspondent sends the Rangitikei Adv acateihe following social anomalies, which at one time would have been thought paradoxical, but which, owing to the present exigencies of fortune, farmers are daily becoming accustomed to : — A bushel of wheat costs 43, and the millers will give you 42lbs of flour for ifc, or charge you 19s for lOOlbs of flour, or not quite 2$ bushels of wheat, which, at 4s per bushel, are worth 10. Moral : Grind your own wheat. Anomaly No. 2 •— A laborer obtains 6s per day for binding ; oats are sold for 8s per bushel ; ergo, a binder this last season waa paid 9 bushels of oats for his day's wages. Moral : Sell your farm and go to sea. The Wanganui Chronicle of Friday last says : — The announcement that Major Willis has resigned his seat for tho Rangitikei District has been the cause of some surprise, but the suggestion that any arrangement ever existed on the subject between bim and Sir William Eox is, of course, without a shadow of foundation. Major Willis has denied ifc in the plainest terms, and ho is not a man to lie or prevaricate, nor is Sir William Fox the man to permit or profit by such a departure from the truth. After the direct contradiction which Major Willis gave to the rumour, its revival can only be characterised as dirty. What are Sir William Fox's intious we do not know, but should ho come forward as a candidate his return may be regarded as certain. Apart from other con sidcrations, the excellent service he has rendered the country as a member of the Royal Commission on Native Affairs on the West Coast will stand him in good stead. The people of tha Rangitikei District have not taken leave of their senses, aud would no doubt feci both pleasure and pride in returning to Parliament so prominent and useful a man, and one, moreover, who is so well acquainted wiih'their wants. The Rangitikei Advocate says :— " Looking round for a representative of the interest of tho county, we can lay our hand on none so suited to the positiou, both by ability and experience, as its old member, Sir William Fox. The fact that be is not only one of the oldest resi dents iv the county, but also one of the oldest politicians in the colony, renders it unnecessary to speak further of his fitness to represent the interest of Rangitikei in the House of Representatives ; neither is it necessary to allude to whafc he has accomplished in the past, to prove what h« is capable of doing in the future. Sir William Fox is known, not only in the county, with whose interests he is most nearly connected, but throughout the length and breadth of the colony, in whose service he bas spent the best yeats of his life \ and we feel sure that could he be persuaded to resume those duties for which he is so well qualified, his determination would cause as much enthusiasm among his admirers,, as it would terror a cousternation to the minds of those scheming politicians aud adventurers whom he had not feared to expose in times past." The Advocate urges the advisability of a deputation of electors waiting on Sir William and requesting him to stand. We are assured (says the Oamaru Ma'l) that there is every likelihood of the next Volunteer review being held in Oamarn. Some time since, the members of No. 1 Company passed a resolution in favour of the next review being held here, and the subject waa, we learn, discussed by the officers of different companies in Christchurch at the review. They were very generally in favor of Oamaru being selected for the next large gathering of Volunteers. Of course the holding of the review here will greatly depend upon the amount of support given by the public. Ifc ia probable thafc the review will be held on tbe Prince of Wales' birthday, and we must say thafc the time mentioned would be most suitable, as it would not interfere with harvesting or be likely to clash with aoy other event. Ifc is in contemplation to hold a meeting shortly to take initiatory steps, and from what we can gather there is every likelihood of a commencement being made with the arrangements at an early date, so that all the details can receive proper attention. There was an attempt at horse-whipping last week, the result of wbich did not turn out to the satisfaction of him who handled the horse persuader, and elderly gentleman who occupies a good position in tbe colony. Ifc seems that he was rather partial to the company of a young man, whom he often saw with apparent pleasure at his place of abode. The young man took the liberty to fall in love with bis elderly friend's daughter, and the still greater one of proposing to her. The young lady had the impertinence to decide for herself, and to lend a favorable ear to the suit. Her father got v, md of this, and immediately made bis way to the lodgings of the young man. The affair waa a short one, for a few minutes later the old gentleman was politely bowed out at the front door, the young man holding in his hand a whip which neither the landlady nor any of the other inmates of the houae remember seeing before. The young lady declares that ifc served the old man right. — N. Z. Mail. Kauri gum is fast coming into uso in America for the manufacture of varnish, and is rapidly increasing in value. This is good news for New Zealand, Instead of being worth about £65 per ton, it sells readily at from that figure up to £150 per ton. Copal is its only opponent in tho market, and sells afc something like £250 per ton. Kauri gum is found to make a varnish that is superior for many purposes, and meets with ready sale A painful accident happened on Friday to Mr Frank M'Lean, while in the act of blasting a large log. The injured man (says the Inangahua Herald) was blasting in the vicinity of his private residence, Reefton, and the sparks from the fuse ignited a small bag of powder which he had inadvertently left in close proximity to the blast, aud before he had time to withdraw to a safe distance ifc exploded, striking him in tho face, chest, and arms, knocking him down, and seriously burning him. Although thus severely injured, he had sufficient presence of mind to crawl on his hand and knees away from the blast just about to explode. He had only succeeded in getting about ten feet away wben the log burst, scattering large billets of wood all round him, but fortunately not striking him. Dr Monckton was sect for, and dressed the wounds of the BUfferer, who, we are glad to learn ; ia progressing J satisfactorily. j

_ An extraordinary discover* (says « AtlaS- '■' in the World) has just been made, or ia strongly believed to have been made, by the Indian Office. The sister of a Bedforshire . baronet, who, being then a young girl of considerable beauty, was lost during the Indian mutiny, has been found in a harem at Mecca. The lady ia now in India, and questions have been sent out to secure evidence of her identity, which it is suspected there may be a desire to conceal. A correspondent of the Standard has telegraphed from St. Petersburg the following account of a struggle with Nihilists in thafc city •— .« a poli< • officer in the Liteina district,- holding the rank of pomoshtnik, having heard that three men and two women were living in a certain bouse under suspioiouß circumstance?, determined to effect a surprise. On Friday morning afc two o'clock, accompanied by an okolotochnik, or subofficer, and several policemen, he proceeded to the house in question. Having posted some of the men on the back staircase, he went up to the apartment alone, and knocked at the door. "Kto tarn ?" (who is there) waa the answer. " A telegram," said the officer. The door was opened and the police being recognised,eeveral shots were fired. The officer closed the door instantly and held it with all hia might, whilst a messenger was despatched to Gendarmerie Barracks for help. Meanwhile, those inside recognised their danger, and made a desperate attempt to escape. They fired several shots, both through the door and from a small window overlooking the staircase. The officer was struck in the hand by a bullet which passed through the door ; but the cloud of Bmoke and the darkness obscured the police, and probably saved their lives. Upon help arriving the pomoshtnik took the offensive, and dashed into the corridor, revolver in hand, followed by the gendarmes. As the room was full of smoke he groped round the walls, and succeeded in opening the window. The draught cleared the atmosphere, and in the centre of the room were seen two men and two girls, who, finding escape hopeless, and their ammunition being expended, surrendered at discretion. Immediately afterwarde a single shot was heard in the adjoining room, and, upon entering ifc a third man was found dead on the floor, having blown oufc his brains. General Gourko, the Governor, and M. Guroff, the Prefect of the town, arrived shortly, when a search was instituted, which led to the discovery of two presses, a quantity of 'brochures," proclamations, falsified documents, and a complete issue of the revolutionary journal " NavodajaVolya" (the " Will of the People ") ; also poisons and explosives. The officer of the police received at once the order of St. Vladimia and a step iv promotion. The order of St. Vladimia is, after the Cross of St. George, tbe most coveted decoration in Russia, carrying with it, as it does, many privileges, amongst them the rank of noble in the higher grade pf tho hereditary nobility, and the education of tbe bearer's children at tbe expense of tbe State.